New London – Any first-year Division III program faces its share of challenges. The Coast Guard Academy men's lacrosse team is no different.

The advantage the Bears have is they sprouted from a successful club program that operated for 30 years.

Now they're enthusiastically embracing trying to build a consistent winner in Division III.

"We had a great club tradition," Coast Guard senior Pat Dreiss said. "Getting to be part of something that's been 30 years in the making has been an awesome experience."

The awesome experience has been bumpy at times, but Coast Guard found a smoother path to victory on Wednesday in non-conference action, earning an 11-5 win over Mitchell College. The Bears (2-7) scored six straight goals after falling behind 2-0 and never looked back.

Junior Justin Huemme powered the CGA attack with four goals and an assist while junior Louis DePaolis had two goals and two assists and Dreiss added two goals in the first varsity meeting between the two neighboring programs.

The Bears took a positive step forward on Wednesday, giving coach Ray LaForte yet another reason to be excited.

"I'm amped for Coast Guard lacrosse," LaForte said. "I'm amped for all the things we could be and all the growth that I'm seeing right now with this group."

The Bears controlled the majority of possession and applied a defensive stranglehold, limiting quality scoring opportunities.

"With Ray at the helm, I know Coast Guard is going to perennially be a tough game for us," Mitchell coach John Keysor said. "I love the closeness between Conn College and Coast Guard and Mitchell.

"My job, over the next few years, is to build my team so we can be competitive with them."

Coast Guard took advantage of Mitchell's mistakes and penalties and relied on goalie Kurt Caminske (eight saves) when things broke down.

Playing a man-up, DePaolis set up freshman Matt Huemme who fired home a high shot to put the Bears on top for good, 3-2, with three minutes left in the first quarter. By halftime, they increased their lead to 8-3.

Senior Jordan Cook, a Fitch High School graduate, and freshman Tyler Desances led the Mariners (4-5) with two goals.

"We had a tough time offensively as far as shooting," Cook said. "Defensively, we have a young team."

With the win, the Bears stopped their losing streak at four games. Now they head back into the conference schedule.

Playing on the Division III level will continue to be a major adjustment for Coast Guard, but the Bears aren't backing down to anybody.

"I'm really happy with how we're swallowing the whole gulp of NCAA lacrosse and the whole place is embracing it," LaForte said.

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @gavinkeefe